Currently there are two main types of technologies offering alternative methods of unique product item identification, such as EPCs, namely:                2D optical barcodes, and        RFID.        
A 2D optical barcode consists of a composite image that can store about 2,000 bytes of data along two dimensions. The Uniform Code Council and European Article Numbering (EAN) International have standardized a range of 2D barcodes, all with a significantly larger data capacity than the existing EPC.
2D optical barcodes are now widely used in the global pharmaceutical industry. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has mandated their use on all pharmaceutical goods manufactured within its jurisdiction to identify product lines. The main advantage driving their acceptance is that they are inexpensive to produce.
The main disadvantage of 2D optical barcodes is that they are often difficult to read due to label damage and a direct ‘line-of-sight’ is needed for scanning. In addition to this, 2-D optical barcodes are unsightly and therefore detrimental to the packaging of the product. This problem is exacerbated in the case of pharmaceuticals, which generally use small packaging, but require a relatively large bar-code which can therefore obscure a substantial part of the packaging.
In the case RFID tags, these can again provide unique product item identification encoded in the form of an EPC. However, there are also some disadvantages that make RFID tags unsuitable for some products.
First, RFID tags are costly to produce. Secondly, the presence of metals, liquids and other electromagnetic frequency (EMF) signals can interfere with RFID tag scanners, and thus seriously jeopardize the reliability and integrity of the RFID system. Thirdly tags can be read remotely without knowledge of the tag holder, thereby raising privacy concerns.